


The Bartender

by MisoSoup48



Category: AKB48, AKB48 & Related Fandoms, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, MNL48
Genre: Bars and Pubs, Bartenders, F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-19 10:21:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20655632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MisoSoup48/pseuds/MisoSoup48
Summary: A pub dedicated to idol culture, run by a bartender with no interest in it.





	1. Chapter 1

Compared to the Hog’s Head or the Three Broomsticks, where I work has a very specific clientele. The Three Lightsticks serves those who are interested in what the Muggles call “idol groups”. I never did understand the appeal, but the customers of this pub are huge fans of those groups, sometimes even renting the place out for events. Now you may be wondering: What is a person like me, who didn’t even know about the existence of these groups, doing working at a place that caters to fans of those groups?

Simple, really. I didn’t have a choice.

The previous owner decided to head to Korea to be closer to these idols, and I was almost forced to take-over the store. If she hadn’t been my childhood friend, I would have declined immediately. But seeing her basically beg in front of me (and seeing just how much money she’s willing to offer), I had no choice but to accept. It took a while to get accustomed to working in a pub. I had worked in a bar for half a decade before, so I was familiar with how to serve drinks and entertain customers, but there was more to running a pub than just dispensing drinks. I had to learn how to serve food, how to work with servers, basically unlearn a lot of the mannerisms I got used to while working in a bar. The biggest change of all, however, was that I had to change how I dealt with customers.

For five years, I served drinks to middle aged men who were going home after a long day of work at the Ministry of Magic. On occasion, the Minister himself would go for a drink. The bar had a more serious atmosphere. They would enter, order a drink, and wait quietly for it to arrive. When it did, they would finish it quickly, pay, and leave. Even when they came in groups, they would do the same thing. I didn’t talk much back then because I didn’t have to.

It was different now. Most of my customers are very talkative. If they weren’t talking loudly to each other about their favourite groups, they would sometimes strike up conversation with me and talk about those groups. The first few weeks, I would just nod and smile to what they said, pretending that I knew what they were talking about. After a while, though, I started learning more about the groups, and in extension, the girls themselves.

Take Faith and Alyssa, for example. The Ravenclaw pair loved going here, and Faith in particular loved requesting NBS (National Boyscouts Syndicate) songs to be played in the pub. I have to keep an eye on Faith though, whenever she went here. According to Alyssa, and from what I’ve seen myself, Faith had low alcohol tolerance.

There’s also Sela Guia, the Gryffindor, arguably one of the most popular students in their year. Her fan club always follows her around, so whenever she was here she would always be in disguise to try and hide from them. Personally, though, the disguise doesn’t help. She’s still very recognizable from her cheeks. And I don’t mind her fan club as long as they behaved. They were paying customers after all. Sela used to go here a lot with her Slytherin friend, Abby, but lately they haven’t been going here together. From random rumours, it seems Abby hung around more now with the foreign exchange student Cherprang, although the validity of these rumours is questionable.

And then there’s Gabb and Ash, Slytherin and Ravenclaw respectively, a pair that you don’t usually see. Whenever they were here, you would see Gabb constantly trying to catch Ash’s attention, bringing up topics of interest and telling stories as the studious Ash buried herself in her books. Because of this, a lot of people think that Ash is intentionally cold to Gabb, but what those people don’t see is that whenever Gabb isn’t looking, Ash would quickly steal glances at her, smiling as she did, before looking back at her books. It was always fun guessing if Ash was going to get caught with the next glance. They didn’t drink either, opting instead for soft drinks. Lately, though, Gabb has been going here alone, visibly sad. I had heard rumours of Ash going on a foreign exchange program, so that might be related to why Gabb looked that way, but like with Cherprang, they were only rumours, and I had no way of checking their validity.

There are a whole lot of other customers whose stories I find interesting, like Jem and Dana, the Hufflepuff Gryffindor pair who are practically inseparable despite being in different houses, almost on par with Gryffindor’s resident pair Sheki and Alice. There was also Shaina and Shaira, twins separated by house, but somehow always finding ways to play tricks on their friends, housemates, and sometimes teachers.

However, those are stories for another time. It’s already getting late, and it’s time for me to open up shop. There’s an NBS event later. Apparently the group has a big announcement, so the fan club reserved the pub for the night.

I wonder what it is?


	2. Gloomy Skies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A customer arrives before opening time.

Reading the Daily Prophet has been a habit of mine ever since I lived in London. Owls would usually bring the paper to me back then, but when I moved to Hogsmeade, I chose to buy the paper myself from the corner store. It became a daily routine that doubled as my daily exercise. After buying, I would head back and read the paper over breakfast.

So imagine my surprise when, on the way back from my Daily Prophet run, I saw hooded figure just standing in front of the pub door, looking in as if to see if it was open. As I approached, I called out to them.

"Hi! Do you need anything?"

With a start, the figure turned towards me. I recognized her face immediately. After all, she was a regular at the pub.

"Oh, hello Ash. Did you need anything? We're not open for another hour or two."  
Ash didn't say anything, but as I approached her, I saw that her usual cheerful demeanor was not present. Sensing that something was up, I opened the door to the pub and let her in.

"Sorry if the tables are still not set up. You can take a seat at the counter if you want."  
Nodding, Ash went to the counter and took a seat, placing her bag beside her. After seeing her seated, I went behind the counter and poured her a cup of cold brewed tea that I prepared the night before. Uttering a word of thanks, she slowly sipped on the tea, both of her hands wrapped around the glass.

"So, what brings you here? I know it's a weekend, but it's still too early to be up and about." I asked her. Usually, Ash would go here with Gabb around late afternoon, so if she was here this early, and without Gabb at that, then something was up.

"Have you read today's Daily Prophet?" Ash said quietly. I shook my head as I unrolled the newspaper that I had bought. I usually read the paper while eating breakfast, so I had not looked at the front page yet. The headline surprised me.

Hogwarts Ravenclaw Ace Ashley Cloud Garcia Awarded with Presitigous Overseas Scholarship

I had heard rumors that she was going on a foreign exchange program, but this was way bigger than the rumors. After giving the article a quick read, I folded the newspaper and set it aside.

"I supposed a congratulations is in order then... or at least, that's what I would normally say. This doesn't seem to be a normal case. What's going on?" This was something that I don't usually do. Bartenders are not supposed to meddle with the private affairs of their customers, however right now, I wasn't the bartender of the Three Lightsticks. I was just someone listening to someone going through something.

"I was supposed to announce it tomorrow during the Great Hall Banquet. I was hoping that if it came from my mouth, people would at least accept it better, and that I would be able to immediately explain why I'm doing it. But the Daily Prophet had to go and announce it ahead of time, and without me knowing too. When I saw the headline, I just got so... frustrated." Her grip tightened around her empty glass. This was the first time I saw her like this. Usually, Ash was composed, but the girl in front of me was anything but.

"So why did you decide to go here?" I asked her as I refilled her glass with more tea. Ash drank from the glass before answering.

"I was worried about how people would react to the sudden announcement. I mean, I told Faith and Alyssa, but everyone else was basically in the dark. There were rumors going around, but I just chose to ignore those. Now that it got suddenly announced, chances are people would be rushing to talk to me and ask for details, and I didn't want to deal with that. So I quickly dressed up and just ran out of the campus. Before I knew it, I was in front of the pub."

"I see. Must be rough being that popular, huh?" I asked her as I floated over two plates from the kitchen, filled with heated leftovers from the previous night. I placed one in front of her, before starting on my plate. She stared at it, then looked up, as if asking what the plate was for. "Sounds like you haven't eaten yet. It's on the house, don't worry."

She nodded, slowly tasting the food first, then picking up the pace after a while. It was a simple fare of toast, eggs, and some battered shrimp from last night. As we ate in silence, I observed Ash. She was just a normal girl, but it looked like she was carrying the world on her shoulders. It was heartbreaking to see. A question popped in my mind, and I decided to ask her.

"What about Gabb? Have you talked to her about this?" Ash's fork stopped halfway to her mouth when I asked her. Slowly placing the fork down, Ash answered, her voice wavering a little.

"She's actually who I'm worried about the most right now. I asked Faith and Alyssa to hide it from her, and to make sure she doesn't find out, but I know that she knows that something is happening soon. I don't know how she's taking the news of my transfer, and it worries me." Ash continued eating, her hands shaking now. After a while, we both emptied our plates, and I quickly whisked them away to the kitchen after giving Ash some more tea. When I came back, I noticed the clock above the doorway, its hands showing that it was almost time to open.

"Will you be staying here some more? Or will you be heading out?" I asked her as I watched the people walking outside the pub, some familiar faces standing out.

"I don't know. Maybe I'll be laying low in here for now. I don't think I can handle talking to anyone in the campus at the moment." she replied. Nodding, I brought out my wand and immediately made the chairs and tables fly from the sides of the pub to their respective places.

"In that case, you might want to hide behind the counter for a bit. Some of your friends are coming." Ash immediately looked towards the door and, seeing who I was talking about, grabbed her bag and immediately jumped over the counter and hid behind it. As soon as she did, the door opened, and three people came in.

"Hello mister bartender man. Are you open?" Faith shouted as she and Alyssa dragged Gabb into the pub with them.


	3. Fly Higher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A confession and a resolution.

"Welcome! You guys are here early. Usually you don't show up until the afternoon." I said to the group, motioning for them to sit at the counter. As they took their seats, I took a peek down to check up on Ash. She was hugging her bag, leaning against the cabinets under the counter. Confirming that she was not visible from the front, I turned towards the group. "So, what can I get you girls?"

"Two butterbeers for me and Alyssa, and a Coke for Ga-" Faith started, but was interrupted by Gabb.  
"I want butterbeer too." Alyssa and Faith both turned to look at Gabb, both visibly shocked at her order. It was an understandable reaction. Gabb was below the legal drinking age, and butterbeer, even with its minimal alcohol content, is still considered an alcoholic drink.

"Gabb, you know I'm not allowed to serve you butterbeer, right? I could get in trouble if I serve you it to you. I mean, your friends can probably give you some if you really want to drink it, but from the looks of it," I looked at her two companions, both shaking their heads and making an X with there hands ", that's not going to happen." Gabb looked at me, an almost dead look on her face, before looking down and nodding. The two looked at her with a sad face, then at each other, as if asking what they could do to cheer up their friend."  
"However," I started, making the three of them look at me, "I do have something I can give you that's similar to butterbeer, but non-alcoholic. It's experimental at this stage, but I guarantee it's safe to drink. Just give me your thoughts on it afterwards. Is that okay?" All three of them nodded, and I proceeded to prepare their drinks. As I brought the tankards out from the shelf, the trio started talking.

"Gabb, are you sure you're okay? This is big news, and we'll understand if you're not okay." Faith said to Gabb, as if continuing a conversation they were having outside of the pub.  
"Yeah," Alyssa continued, "we kept it from you, so we understand if you're upset. We really would have told you immediately, but Ash told us to keep it quiet until she could announce it herself." From the corner of my eye, I saw Ash lower her head, hugging her bag tighter. She most likely felt guilty that she kept her transfer a secret from Gabb, who was arguably one of her closest friends.  
"I already told you guys at breakfast, I'm okay. You guys are already doing so much to make this day better." Gabb told the two, a smile on her face. The two seemed unconvinced with her reply, but chose not to pry deeper. Seeing my chance, I brought over the three foaming tankards, placing them in front of the three. Alyssa and Faith looked at Gabb's mug, whose contents seemed very similar to their own. Faith looked at me with a confused look.  
"I thought you were going to give Gabb something experimental? Why does it look exactly like our drinks?" Alyssa nodded with Faith's question.  
"That IS the experimental drink. I wanted to recreate butterbeer without the alcohol, or the usual side effects of drinking it. I don't drink much personally, but I do enjoy the taste of butterbeer, so I wanted to make a drink that tasted and looked like it. I hope you girls enjoy."

Nodding at my answer, Faith picked up her tankard and started drinking. Alyssa followed, and finally Gabb. The three drank silently, just letting the butterbeer warm them up as they drank. After downing at least half of their drinks, the girls placed the tankards down, and sighed in satisfaction.  
"Man, nothing beats a nice mug of butterbeer on a cold day."  
"Faith, remember to drink slowly."  
"So this is what butterbeer tastes like."  
Their reactions varied, but their satisfied comments made me smile. Faith and Alyssa continued to drink their drinks, but Gabb just kept her hands wrapped around the warm drink. After a while, she started talking.

"I'm happy for Ash. I really am." Faith and Alyssa immediately placed down their drinks, and focused on what Gabb was saying.  
"How could I not be? She's following her dream. Did you know that every time we would study together, she would always be looking up Eastern magicks? Even if she had other school work to finish, she always found time to read up on it. I'm happy that she can finally pursue her dreams." Gabb gripped her tankard tighter. "I'm happy for her, but I can't help but feel sad too."

"Why? What do you feel sad about?" Faith asked Gabb. Gabb took another swig from her tankard before continuing.  
"I'm sad because there's just so much more I wanted to do with her. There are places I want to go to with her. Restaurants I want to eat at with her. There's just so much I want to do with her, and I'm sad because when she leaves for Japan, I know that I won't be able to do those things with her anymore!" Gabb downed the rest of her drink, before slamming it a bit too loudly on the counter. Ash jolted from the sudden sound, accidentally bumping her head at the counter behind her. Alyssa and Faith immediately looked at the direction of the sound, so I had to act quick.

"Aaagh, I hit my foot again. I should really fix this cabinet. Gets in the way of walking sometimes." The two of them nodded, before turning their attention to Gabb, whose head was now cradled in her arms. I stole a quick glance at Ash, who mouthed 'thank you' at me. 

The two rubbed Gabb's back, telling her that it was okay. After a while, Gabb continued.

"I have quite a few regrets too. There were times where she was teaching me and I just played around. There were times when she was enthusiastically telling me about the Eastern magicks, and I just stared at her without understanding anything. But the biggest one was during the Celestial Ball. Remember when I chose to go with Kaycee instead of Ash? If I had known that Ash was going to leave, I would have chosen her in a heartbeat. I went with Kaycee because I wanted her to enjoy her time here, since she was an exchange student and was leaving by the end of the year. If only I knew, I would have spent that night with Ash, instead of staring at her from a distance... Did you see how beautiful she was that day?" Gabb proceeded to explain every little detail about Ash during the ball. The clouds that appeared from her dress, the way it sparkled under the lights of the hall, and how it seemed to float and flutter with her every step. From the corner of my eye, I saw Ash pull on her hood, as if trying to hide her face. Hearing Gabb's compliments may be too much for her. As Gabb continued to rant, Alyssa turned towards me and asked: 

"Mister bartender, are you sure you gave the non-alcoholic version to Gabb? She looks pretty, well, drunk right now."

I nodded to her. "I'm sure. She's probably experiencing a placebo effect. She wants to believe that what she's drinking is normal butterbeer, and her body is answering in kind by making her 'drunk'. It'll wear off eventually, don't worry."

Alyssa nodded, before turning her attention back to Gabb, who was still talking about all her regrets and the things she wanted to do with Ash. This went on for a while, with Alyssa and Faith lending an ear to their friend. Noticing that their tankards were empty, I decided to give them all a refill. After placing down the refilled tankards in front of them (and assuring them that it was on the house), I said something to Gabb as she took a break to drink her butterbeer.

"I mean, it's not like she'll be away forever. She's still going to come back, right? And you can go visit her during your vacations, right?"

Gabb suddenly stopped drinking. She placed the tankard down, before looking at me as if I just explained one of the mysteries of the world to her.   
"Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you were focusing so much on the 'what could have been's and 'what if's. That's not necessarily a bad thing. It goes to show just how much you love Ash." Gabb turned away from me, trying to hide her blushing face. Faith and Alyssa smiled at the sight of an embarrassed Gabb. I continued.

"You should be looking at the 'what could be's instead. Think of it this way: If you went to visit Ash in Japan, there would be so many things you two can experience for the first time together. When she comes back here to visit, there's bound to be things she missed out on that you can help her experience. Instead of regretting the things that didn't happen, look forward to what can happen. It's such a simple thing, and yet people tend to forget that."

I leaned on cabinet behind me before continuing

"Of course, that's for the future. That leaves you with what you should do in the present. Ask yourself this: What kinds of memories do I want Ash to bring with her to Japan? Do I want her to bring sad memories, or happy ones? Bad memories, or good ones? Do I want her to remember me crying, or smiling my widest? Once you've decided, then you should act on it. No time like the present."

Gabb was listening intently to what I was saying, as if ingraining every word into her mind. The sadness she had in her eyes when she walked into the pub this morning was slowly being replaced by happiness, and maybe hope. Downing the rest of her drink, Gabb slammed on the table and stood up.

"Okay. I've decided. I'm going to look for Ash, and I'm going to spend as much time as possible with her before she leaves. No more regrets. I'm just going to build as much memories as I can with her." Finishing what she wanted to say, Gabb immediately turned around and ran out of the pub, probably rushing back to the school in search of Ash. Faith and Alyssa quickly took out there purses and paid for the drinks, uttered a word of thanks, then rushed out to chase after their friend, calling out her name as they left. They all seemed way happier than when they first entered, and that made me happy as a bartender.

Now that the trio had left, Ash stood up from where she was hiding, and turned towards the door, silently staring at the backs of her three friends in the distance.

"So, after hearing all that, what are you going to do now?" I asked her, my arms crossed in front of me. "You've heard what she's feeling. You know what she wants to do. What are you going to do about it?"

"I think," Ash started, before slinging her bag over her shoulders,"I'll go back to the school. Even if I hide here the whole day, I'll still have to go back tonight, so it's better to just go back now while it's early. Plus, I'll just get in the way if I kept hiding here."

"And about Japan? Are you having second thoughts now?"

Ash gripped her straps tighter. "I'm still going. Even if Gabb felt like that, I'm still going to go. I've always dreamed of such an opportunity, and now that it's here, I'm not going to let go of it." She then turned to me with a smile. "At least, now, there's one additional thing I can look forward to in my stay there. I already can't wait for it." With that, she walked towards the door of the pub, and after thanking me again for the food and for hiding her, she exited and began her walk home.

I smiled as I watched her figure get smaller and smaller in the distance. I remembered something my teacher once told me: You know a bartender has done their job well when their customers leave the bar looking happier than when they entered. Seeing those girls leave with smiles on their faces made me feel happy that I had chosen this profession.

Satisfied with how my morning went, and seeing customers start to gather, by the door, I flipped the sign on the door with my wand (something I forgot to do when the trio arrived), officially opening the store. As the customers went in and took their seats, I looked at the coins Faith and Alyssa left on the counter, and I felt my jaw drop.

"Three drinks, three Sickles, and they went ahead and left two Galleons. Even by London standards, that's too big a tip. I guess I'll just deduct their future bills from here."


End file.
